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Winter menu ideas for care homes
Bev Rangeley, Head Chef at one of Swallowcourt’s six elderly and specialist care homes in Cornwall, insists salads work well in winter too!
Perfectly tailored meals
When powerful autumn winds batter the wild and wonderful southwest tip of England, Bev’s team could be forgiven for sticking to tried and tested cold weather menus.
But she and her team are always listening to the elderly and specialist care residents at Ponsandane, one of Swallowcourt’s homes on the rugged coast near Penzance,
to ensure each plate of food is tailored perfectly to its recipient every time.
She says: “We are always adapting our menus to include seasonal produce and to cater for what our residents want.
Just because the weather’s cold it doesn’t have to mean hotpots – and vice versa. We always flex to our customers’ preferences while also meeting any dietary needs they
may have.”
Although autumn brings more focus on warmth, familiarity and nutrition, residents’ changing dietary requirements, agreed as part of personalised support plans, are the starting point when it comes to devising a menu.
Why not try our tasty Shepherd’s Pie recipe on your winter care home menu?
Bev’s autumn care home menu ideas
- Braised steak with creamed potatoes and fresh veg
- Corned beef hash
- Pork and apple stew
- Vegetable cobbler
Making a difference
Each dish for every resident is monitored and updated in monthly Nutritional and General Meetings with the specialist heath care team and nurses.
Bev says: “If food and drink isn’t given in the right format to the right resident, poor nutrition and hydration can lead to enhanced care needs.
That might mean weight loss, muscle wastage, skin breakdown, slower wound healing and even hospitalisation, so constant communication between our highly trained nursing staff, residents, their families and the kitchen team is vital.”
Carefully prepared, healthy diets, agreed where possible with residents, bring big social gains, says Bev: “The social benefits and positive wellbeing effects from a well-balanced and tailored diet residents actually want to eat make a critical difference to the comfort and happiness of our guests.
We always listen to the residents and consider their likes and needs when we put our menus together. It’s all about matching choice with individual preferences and special diets.”
As winter approaches, the home – overlooking where the Channel meets the Atlantic – inevitably has more of a focus on easy-to-eat, comfort food. Bev adds: “We run a full breakfast, lunch and supper menu with meals which are traditional and familiar to residents. Home-made puddings and soup are also popular with people who might not want a full meal every time.”
Why not try our tasty Cheese Pudding on your winter care home menu?
Cooked with care
The three meal sittings are designed to flex to the spectrum of dietary needs as well as the various International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) levels – the system used to classify food and drink textures for people with swallowing difficulties, known as dysphagia.
Bev says: “Even though a resident struggles to swallow, has dementia or a physical disability, they’re as entitled as us all to enjoy a choice of nutritional meals, so we do a lot of work to ensure our menus delight everyone.”
The home’s fortified menu celebrates the benefits of creamed potatoes, rich sauces, milkshakes, cakes with cream, milk and jellies that leave residents feeling full, happy and well nourished.
Bev says: “We also have a diabetic menu which has a lot of protein but fewer carbs and sugar. But across all our menus and at all our homes, our kitchen teams always support local businesses and growers to ensure we use only the best quality seasonal produce.”
Whatever the dish and whatever the weather, each service is always cooked with care and attention to its nutritional value as part of Swallowcourt’s resident-first philosophy. Bev adds: “Our residents are like hotel guests so why wouldn’t we want to delight them all day and year round?”
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